This invention relates generally to the beverage industry, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for agitating a fluid suspension so that the fluid suspension is uniformly agitated and mixed, contained in a vessel for dispensing portions of the suspension.
The need to substantially uniformly agitate fluid suspensions for dispensing has long been felt. In the beverage industry, it is desirable to dispense beverages with consistent quality among all beverages dispensed. In order to ensure consistent quality, the sediment within the fluid suspension being dispensed must be thoroughly and uniformly agitated and mixed. If the fluid suspension is not properly agitated, then the beverage dispensed will contain an improper amount of suspended material. For example, if an orange juice dispenser does not adequately agitate the vessel containing the orange juice, some glasses of juice dispensed will contain more pulp than other glasses of juice dispensed from the same dispenser.
Methods for agitating fluid suspensions are well known in the art. Some have attempted to blend the contents of a bag using an actuator to reciprocally exert and release pressure upon a single portion of a flexible container. However, such methods do not adequately or uniformly agitate the fluid suspensions. Applying pressure to only a portion of the vessel simply displaces the suspended materials away from the point of pressure. Typically, this forces the suspended materials to the corners of the vessel, so that the fluid suspension is not substantially uniformly agitated. Therefore, an apparatus and method are needed that substantially uniformly agitates a fluid suspension.
This invention provides an apparatus and a method for agitating a fluid suspension contained within an at least partially flexible vessel. This invention provides an apparatus comprising a structure for receiving the vessel such that a portion of the vessel rests proximate to one side of an agitating member and another portion of the vessel rests proximate to another side of the agitating member, and a motor operatively communicating with the agitating member to substantially uniformly agitate the fluid suspension. This invention also provides a method comprising folding an at least partially flexible vessel so that there are two inner portions and reciprocally moving one or both of the inner portions between a first position and a second position, whereby the fluid suspension is substantially uniformly agitated.